According to the German Weather Service (DWD), Germany experienced an "exceptional weather year" in 2022. According to the preliminary annual balance, the 2018 temperature record of 10.5 degrees Celsius was at least set.

Overall, DWD calculations showed an annual mean temperature of 10.5 degrees Celsius this year. 2022 would thus be 2.3 degrees above the value of the internationally valid reference period 1961 to 1990.

Only the final evaluation of all station data in early January will show whether 2022 was the warmest year since measurements began, a DWD spokesman said Friday.

There was a record with the sunshine duration. With a precipitation deficit of about 15 percent, the past twelve months were very dry.

There was also a further increase in the trend of the annual mean temperature with the warm year 2022: Since 1881, it has now become 1.7 degrees warmer in Germany. In the previous year, this value was still 1.6 degrees.

Tobias Fuchs, DWD Board Member for Climate and Environment, warned, "The record warm year of 2022 should be a renewed incentive for all of us to finally move from talk to action on climate protection."

Image by Alain Audet